I think the newer version looks a helluva lot better. Of course, in order to see that, one must accept the VF-1S-raped-by-facehugger thing. But I don't quite get liking the old version, but not the new one.

I don't know why I am telling you guys this, it's just going to get ignored anyway...But, Bandai has also released criminally overlooked line of EXCELLENT Master Grade quality 1/72 scale transformable valkyries that cost less then a third of the DX toy line.

All the Macross Frontier VF-25 and VF-27 kits come with both a light blue sheet of decals and a light green sheet of duplicate stickers. And they are molded in color and don't use polycaps. So you should have no problems then.

These kits have been around longer than that old DX toy, they were among the first Macross Frontier goods to be released. They cost much less than the DX toy, even costing less than the part forming 1/100 toys. Unlike the DX toy, the kits are unchanged since the day they were released, the necks on all of them have always been adjustable. They have always included decals and stickers, always molded in color, and they have never used polycaps (they are practically a continuation of the R3 line).

Yeah, you have to put them together yourself (Not always a bad thing). Point is these kits are an option.

I didn't get the impression than anyone was ready to grab the pitchforks and torches because someone dared to make a model kit of the VF-25. I just get the feeling that most folks around here (myself included) prefer completed toys.

That's a nice comparison pic Andrew posted. For what it's trying to be, the newer version definitely looks nicer and more refined. Don't particularly care for any of these newer valks in general, but this one doesn't strike me as all that fugly. When you consider the contours and lines of the head (especially the shape of the visor), it looks remarkably like the Griffon from Patlabor. Derivative and uninteresting, maybe, but not that fugly to me.